Notable Trial, Courtroom and Arbitration Experience

• Lead counsel representing Alaska Airlines in a high profile dispute (pending in the Federal District Court in Dallas) with Southwest Airlines, Delta Airlines, and the City of Dallas involving use of the finite number of gates at Dallas Love Field. 
• Representing Sheridan Healthcare Corporation and its subsidiaries and affiliates in multiple cases in South Florida against Aetna involving underpayment of healthcare claims.
• Securing a dismissal, with prejudice and without leave to amend, in the Southern District of Texas on behalf of senior executives of Anadarko Petroleum in a securities class action arising out of an explosion at an oil well in Colorado. The dismissal was affirmed by the Fifth Circuit in December 2019.
• Complete jury trial victory as lead trial counsel for a former CFO and minority shareholder as plaintiff in Texas state court litigation involving direct claims for breach of contract against a Texas-based oil and gas company and its parent corporation, as well as defending counterclaims for breach of fiduciary duty and fraud against our client. Following a six-week jury trial, secured a $10 million-plus verdict and a final judgment in his client's favor on all claims and which defeated all counterclaims. This jury verdict was recognized in 2011 by Texas Lawyer in its “Texas Verdicts Hall of Fame” and was the second largest contract verdict in Texas in 2011.
• Winning a complete defense jury verdict for the nation’s largest bakery in a putative antitrust price-fixing class action involving the Texas bread industry for the years 1977-1993, in which a 52,000-member class sought $1 billion in damages. The jury verdict of no liability, reached after a three-week trial, was later upheld on appeal by a Texas appellate court.
• Winning a complete defense jury verdict as lead trial counsel for Compex Technologies, L.L.C. after a two-week trial in Dallas federal court where the plaintiff sought in excess of $40 million in damages arising from contract and complicated misappropriation of intellectual property claims.
• Lead trial counsel for plaintiff real estate industry client securing a seven-figure jury verdict (and defeating all counterclaims) following multi-week trial in 101st Judicial District Court in Dallas of complex real estate development and partnership dispute, which involved claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and defamation.
• After multi-week jury trial, obtained multi-million dollar plaintiff jury verdict and final judgment on behalf of the owner of trademarks of non-alcoholic beer labels in breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty litigation.
• As lead counsel, secured a $10+ million arbitration award – after liability was established by a favorable summary judgment ruling – in favor of a healthcare industry client in a dispute arising out of the breach of a technology service contract with a vendor.
• Obtaining a favorable arbitration award denying all of claimants’ claims against client VarTec Telecom in a complex dispute involving more than $300 million after two-week expedited proceeding in Washington, D.C.
• Lead trial counsel for a national retail industry client in a jury trial of a complex lease dispute brought by a landlord in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (McAllen Division), obtained substantial recovery of attorneys' fees, and earlier prevailed on all other claims on summary judgment.
• On behalf of a national retail client, won summary judgment (including recovery of attorney’s fees) in the Southern District of Texas against a contractual counterparty in connection with a $300 million distribution center. The result was confirmed on appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Notable Bankruptcy Litigation Experience

• Lead litigation counsel to Talen Energy Supply, LLC, a power generation and infrastructure company in North America, in its chapter 11 cases with approximately $5 billion in funded debt obligations.
• Lead litigation counsel to Speedcast International Limited and its affiliates, a provider of remote communications and IT services, in their chapter 11 cases, including a contested conformation trial (December 2020-January 2021) and other successfully litigated contested matters post confirmation.
• Lead litigation counsel to Basic Energy Services, Inc., one of the nation’s largest oilfield service companies with more than 2,400 employees, in connection with its chapter 11 cases and sale of substantially all of its assets.
• Lead litigation counsel to J. Crew Group, Inc. and its debtor-affiliates, one of the nation’s premier clothing retailers with approximately $2 billion in funded debt and 13,000 employees, in their chapter 11 cases (August 2020).
• Lead litigation counsel to CEC Entertainment, Inc. and its affiliated debtors, an American franchisee company with iconic brands Chuck E. Cheese and Peter Piper Pizza with locations across 47 states and 16 foreign countries and territories, in their chapter 11 cases, including in connection with successful rent abatement litigation (June-December 2020).
• Lead litigation counsel to Chisholm Oil and Gas Operating, LLC and its affiliated debtors, an exploration and production company focused on acquiring, developing, and producing oil and natural gas assets in the Anadarko Basin in Oklahoma, in their chapter 11 cases.
• Lead litigation counsel to UTEX Industries, Inc., the market-leading sealing component design and manufacturing firm, and its debtor-affiliates in their prepackaged restructuring addressing more than $700 million of funded debt, including successful trial against post emergence claim by former employee (June 2021).
• Lead litigation counsel to Fieldwood Energy, a Gulf of Mexico offshore energy exploration and production company, in connection with its second chapter 11 cases with approximately $1.8 billion in debt, including successful trial against BP Exploration to compel repair of an underwater loop system (February 2021) and contested confirmation trial (June 2021).
• Lead litigation counsel to Exide Holdings, Inc. and its debtors-affiliates, a global lead-acid batteries manufacturing company, in their chapter 11 cases, including a first of its kind global settlement with the Department of Justice and more than 10 state regulators to resolve hundreds of millions of dollars of Exide’s historical environmental liabilities at more than 20 dormant locations using five mediators and successful confirmation trial against the state of California (October 2021) (upheld on appeal).
• Led the litigation team for EP Energy Corporation and its affiliated debtors, a public oil and natural gas exploration and production company, in their chapter 11 cases involving approximately $4.9 billion in funded debt obligations, including in successful trials over contested backstop/plan support agreements (November 2019) and contested plan confirmation (February/March 2020).
• Led the litigation and trial teams representing Sears Holdings, a prominent global retailer, in various contested trial matters surrounding its chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, including obtaining approval of a $5.2 billion sale of all or substantially all of Debtors’ assets (February 2019), defeating Section 507(b) surcharge claims of between $500 million and more than $1 billion asserted by lienholders (July 2019) (upheld on appeal by both the SDNY and 2nd Circuit), and successful confirmation of the Debtors’ contested Chapter 11 plan (October 2019) (SDNY).
• Led the litigation team representing Claire’s Stores, Inc., one of the world’s leading specialty retailers of fashionable jewelry, accessories, and beauty products, in connection with its chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in Delaware (March-October 2018).
• Led the litigation and trial team representing CHC Group Ltd., a helicopter services company that provides transportation to offshore oil and gas platforms, in various contested litigation matters surrounding its chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, including approval of contested plan support/backstop agreements (November 2016), confirmation and emergence (2017) (Dallas).
• Led additional litigation and trial teams representing other debtors and creditors in contested matters for Kingfisher Midstream, LLC, DAK Americas LLC, Central Grocers, Paragon Offshore, Azure Midstream Partners, and CTI Foods, LLC.

Other Recent Representative Experience

• Representing the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) in major antitrust litigation against the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) in federal court in Dallas involving allegations that the APTA unfairly restricted athletic trainers from practicing manual therapy and gaining access to continuing education courses on manual therapy. The case was settled and the parties entered a Joint Statement on Cooperation.
• On behalf of a joint venture consisting of The Retail Connection and Colonial Properties Trust, obtained a favorable settlement of litigation brought in Dallas County which encumbered our clients’ commercial real estate valued at over $70 million, thereby enabling our clients to secure a sales contract and, ultimately, to close on the sale of the property.
• Representing News Corp Star US, LLC (News Corp Star) and Star India, obtained a dismissal with prejudice for failure to state a claim in 2013 in a major dispute in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas regarding an advertising agreement.
• Defended a national commercial aggregates company by obtaining summary judgment in an arbitration proceeding based on the principle that a seven-figure liquidated damages clause sought to be enforced by plaintiffs was an impermissible penalty. The arbitration panel consisted of three retired Dallas County Judges and their unanimous ruling eliminated all of plaintiffs’ claims ten days prior to the scheduled hearing.

Matters may have been completed before joining Paul Hastings.